Irina walked through the gala event, sliding through the mingling throng of people. Her eyes were on the prize and she was moving with purpose. Within a few moments, she found herself near Dr. Barnard. He was talking to a few people about the recent events that had taken place in Spain. It didn’t take her that long to insert herself into the conversation. A few demure looks here and there, and a slight flaunting of the red dress that she was in, and his eyes were locked onto her after that. She knew the gifts that God had given her and she used them to her advantage when she needed to. Men were easy to play. They succumbed to their baser desires much more easily. Maybe that was why she liked the priest so much, she thought, as she made conversation with Barnard.

He resisted so well.

Soon, she wasn’t even thinking about the conversation that she was having with Dr. Barnard. Instead, she was focused on the hulking brute who was moving through the room. She was hoping that Dustin wasn’t going to do anything stupid. He’d said that he had forgiven the man, but at the same time, he wasn’t the God that he worshipped and believed in. Dustin was not able to be all forgiving all the time. So she needed to move this along.

Which meant surreptitiously bumping into someone else, causing that person to hit Br. Barnard and cause him to spill his drink on himself. She leapt into action, taking him away from the group and to the back of the gala, to help him clean himself off. She apologized profusely on behalf of the person who had caused him to spill his drink. Now she had him where she wanted him, away from the rest of the people and away from the person who was looking for him.

“Dr. Barnard, I’m here to warn you.” She said, dropping pretense.

“I’m...I’m sorry?” He asked. He looked past her as Dustin Schaefer walked into the room.

“Dr. Barnard, how are you?” Father Schaefer asked. “Your life is in danger.” He said.

“I don’t understand, Father.” Dr. Barnard said.

“There’s a man who’s here...” Irina said, and drifted off. She had been hoping that Dustin wouldn’t have followed her, so that she could use terminology that she wouldn’t in front of him. But as it stood, there were few other alternatives. “...here from the Facility. He’s looking for you and he wishes to harm you.”

“But...But I haven’t worked for the Facility in years.” Dr. Barnard said.

“I’m afraid that’s not going to particularly matter to him, now will it?” Dustin replied. He was about to say something else, when the doors to the room opened. He and Irina turned and the expression on her face told it all.

Irina blanched. She had not been counting on this. Well, she had known that it could happen, but she had been hoping that they would have moved fast enough to get to Dr. Barnard and get out of there, before this man found Dr. Barnard, and by extension, them. The wild card in this situation was Father Schaefer. She didn’t know how he was going to respond, no matter what he said about himself. No one could be that forgiving. She was about to speak when the larger man spoke again, before she could even utter a word.

“Oh look, you brought your friend with you again, Irina. Two times, and I’ve never seen you work with the same person twice unless you have to. I’ve never seen this guy before, so clearly he’s special. You two going steady?” He asked.

“I’m a priest.” Dustin said, pointedly, but also misunderstanding what the man was talking about. “I am celibate.” He said.

“Sucks to be you then, buddy.” The man said with a smirk. “You don’t know how good pussy is.” He said. “Now that that’s out of the way, I need to have a word with Dr. Barnard here.” He said, and pointed a finger at the man.

“I don’t understand. What did I do?” Barnard asked.

“You don’t remember me?” The man asked. “I’m one of your creations, one of your children. You made me, at the Facility. You and the rest of the team back then. You did things to me that you shouldn’t have, all because you were told to. I don’t blame you, well, no I do, but I’m not going to hold it against...” He said and then trailed off. “No, wait, I will. Put it this way, you were doing your job. It just so happens that something from your outbox is going to kill you.”

“Not if I can help it.” Dustin said, stepping forward. He put himself in between Irina, Dr. Barnard and the man. “You’re not going to hurt anyone else.”

“Father, I don’t think you know who you’re fucking with.” The man said. “You’re what, maybe a buck fifty, buck sixty?” He asked, rhetorically. “I’ve got the weight on you and I know I’ve got the skill on you. More importantly,” He said with a smile as he leaned forward. “I don’t give a shit about spilling blood. You’re the one who’ll cry in your confessional booth. God can go fuck himself as far as I’m concerned.” He said.

“Dustin.” Irina said, reaching a hand out to touch him. Her eyes widened a little bit when she felt how tense he was. His arm was rigid, and she could tell that he was doing a lot to hold himself back. Respect went up for him, knowing that he was trying his best to keep to his word of being forgiving and not being vengeful. “Dustin, get Dr. Barnard out of here.” She said. “I’ll deal with him.”

“Irina, baby, I don’t think that that’s going to work for me.” The man said. “Besides, you know what my powers are. I can track people once I’ve gotten to know them. Dustin here, I know him now. I can track him if I want to. Once I’ve broken you, how long do you think it’s going to take me to track poor Father Dustin and Dr. Barnard, who I’ve had years to get to know?” He asked.

“It’s worth a shot, Cyber.”

“Don’t call me that.” He said, his voice dropping to a whisper. “That’s not my name.” He added.

“Dustin, run.” It was the last thing that he wanted to do. He looked at her, his eyes pleading for her to find another way. He didn’t want to let this chance of stopping - Cyber was it? - to get away from him. This was his chance, and he’d squandered the last one that had been placed in front of him. He didn’t know how long divine intervention would keep working in his favor. At the same time, he didn’t want to leave Irina with this man, especially since he didn’t know what exactly she could do, and he’d already seen a lot of what he could do. That was two strikes in favor of him staying there and helping her in whatever would happen next.

“Dustin, please.” She said, not looking away from the man who’s face was one of psychotic determination. It looked as though the man was seething. Maybe that was the right word. But it seemed as though adjectives or phrases that would describe the man lost their true effectiveness when trying to articulate what was going on with him. There was something about him.

He nodded and started backing up, one arm on Dr. Barnard. Then, when they had gotten a safe distance away, they started to run. “Come on.” He said. “We need to get as far away from here as we can.” He said.

“Are you really a priest?” Dr. Barnard asked, with keen interest, when they got into an elevator.

“Yes, I am.” Dustin said, pressing the button for the ground floor and then holding down the button to close the doors faster. He turned and looked at the researcher. “Why?” He asked.

“I was wondering if you could answer,” Dr. Barnard said, stopping when the elevator opened and they hurried out, “a few questions that I had regarding the Church’s teaching on-”

“Do you really think that this is the best time to be asking me questions of a theological nature?” Dustin asked, looking at the doctor with a look of incredulity. “Honestly, I don’t think it’s the time.” He said. “There’s a somewhat vicious man trying to kill us.” He said.

“If I might die, I’d kind of like a question that affects the outcome of my eternal soul, well, I rather would like to get that question answered. Wouldn’t you?” Dr. Barnard asked, pointedly.

Okay, so he had a point. But still.

They exited the building and were crossing the street when screams started to emanate from the building. Dr. Barnard turned, looking back. But Dustin grabbed the man’s hand and kept moving. Irina could handle herself. At least that was what he hoped. Otherwise, things were going to get very ugly, very quickly. He did turn, when he heard glass shattering. Irina was the one being put through the window. The dress got a bit shredded from the glass shards, but interestingly, nothing happened to her. He could not see any cuts on her. She struggled to rise, but then she collapsed to the ground, knocked unconscious.

“Well, it looks like we might die.” Dustin said. “What was that question again?”

Dr. Barnard didn’t get a chance to rightly respond, as an abject scream of terror emanated from his mouth. He turned and tried to run, but he tripped and fell to the ground. Looking over his shoulder, he locked eyes with Cyber. The sadistic grin on the look of Cyber was enough to get Barnard to scramble backwards. Cyber moved forward, his pace far outstripping that of Barnard’s own. But before he could reach the good doctor, his hand was stopped, smacked downwards by none other than Dustin. The man turned and looked at Dustin and shook his head slowly.

“Now now, Father, why’d you have to go and do that?” He asked. “You could have avoided getting gutted like your dear old dad. Now, unfortunately, you’re going to have to die along with him.”

“I’m not sure if that’s something that I can agree with.” Dustin said, ducking the first attempted strike from Cyber. “I’m not going to go down without a fight.” He lashed out with a kick that caught Cyber in the side.

The man took a step back, grimacing only slightly. There had been something to the hit, the same way that there had been something the last time that they had met. Dustin wasn’t sure what it was, but it was like the man was heavier than he should be. More durable. The thinking gave his opponent too much time, and Cyber reached out with another hit. It would have connected, but Dustin reacted instinctively, again, like he had before. Disappearing in a cloud of purple smoke, he reappeared behind Cyber and hit the man in the back of the head, causing him to stumble forward.

“What are you a damn magician?” Cyber asked. “Do they teach that shit to you in Priest school?” He asked, turning around.

“Not exactly.” Dustin replied.

“Too much time teaching you how to diddle little boys?”

Dustin’s eyes narrowed. This was the second time in a short while that Cyber had deliberately insulted his faith. He would not stomach a third. With thoughts of “Turn the other cheek” moving quickly out of his head, Dustin launched himself forward, throwing his weight around utilizing the power of his legs. The takedown worked, but it only resulted in Cyber shifting his own weight and turning the tables. The man was on top of Dustin, and attempting to pummel him into submission. Though Dustin tried to get his hands up in some form of a guard, it didn’t do him much good.

Cyber’s words earlier of having the weight and power advantage was coming back to haunt him.

Suddenly, it stopped. Dustin opened his eyes, and realized that Cyber was no longer on top of him. Turning on the ground, his eyes widened. He saw that the man had grabbed Dr. Barnard and was moving. Dustin looked on, in abject horror, as Cyber threw the doctor over a wall. His small knowledge of the area came into play and his eyes widened even more, knowing that Barnard had been tossed over onto a busy highway. Suddenly, he heard the car horns and the impact of a multiple car pileup.

With a smug look of satisfaction over his shoulder, Cyber spared Dustin a glance before he leapt, over the wall as well, and disappeared into the night.

Groaning, Dustin struggled to his knees. People were still streaming out of the gala event, and many of them had seen what had happened. Without a thought, he managed to get to where Irina was. She was still unconscious, lying on the ground. He closed his eyes and thought of the hotel room.

Dustin’s eyes opened. He blinked a few times as he considered the world around him. Looking at the red, burning lights of the alarm clock on the nightstand, he realized that only a few hours had passed since their altercation with Cyber. Stretching, Dustin was amazed that he had found the chair in the hotel room so comfortable. Looking out, his eyes found the form of the woman who was lying on the bed, still in the red dress, unconscious. She had remained that way for some time, and he was worried about her. Dustin didn’t know what her powers were, but he had seen her tossed through glass without a scratch on her. The dress, beautiful as it may have been in its past life, was now torn in many places.

But she didn’t have a mark on her. Strange. That seemed to be the word, he thought, as he considered the fact that he could teleport, and had a tail.

Rising from the chair, he walked into the bathroom, and turned on the light, the only light that was now on in the darkened hotel room. He stared at his reflection in the mirror and then quickly reached out, grabbing a towel and wetting it with water from the faucet. Almost viciously, he started to rub at the makeup that he wore almost constantly, the make up that hid his normal appearance. After a few moments, he stopped and stared at himself in the mirror, before removing the contacts that hid his eyes.

Bright yellow eyes stared back at him, as he looked at a mismatch of flesh tone and blue colored skin. Taking a few steps back, he leaned forward, placing his hands on the counter and staring at him.

Cyber was a monster. He was a freak, and he was a monster.

Dustin wanted to kill Cyber

He knew that it was wrong, he knew that it wasn’t right of him to harbor these feelings, but he couldn’t help it. Dustin was human. He sinned and he knew that having these thoughts was a sin. But try as he might, he couldn’t push them out of his head. This man had killed, multiple times, twice in front of Dustin himself. This man had murdered his father in cold blood and Cyber would do it again, without a shadow of a doubt.

Worse than all of that, the man had no remorse. There was no feeling of sorrow, of shame at what he had done.

He was a monster, an aberration of nature.

Am I not too an aberration? Dustin thought, and grimaced as he looked at himself. Dustin was a mutant, and he had long been taught that the world would not accept him, that they would call him a devil. His father had cautioned him to hide himself, to hide the powers that he had. Was he not like Cyber, in his own way? Could he condemn that man to death? Suddenly, he was wracked with sadness, and tears fell from his eyes, unbidden. The pain of losing his father, the pain of the death of Dr. Barnard, of all those who Cyber had killed, and would kill, it all hit him in a flash.

He had to stop Cyber. But he could not kill the man. Ephesians carried a verse that was so particular to this situation. Dustin remembered when he had quoted it, in homilies that he had written:

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Irina moved around a bit, before realizing that she was in a bed. Her eyes were adjusted, and she quickly surmised that she was in the hotel room that they had gotten before heading to the dinner event. That made thoughts of what had happened come rushing back to her and she closed her eyes again. Cyber had gotten away. Damn him to hell. Opening her eyes, she looked around again, and saw that Dustin was not in the room. Rising, she walked into the bathroom and turned on the lights. She frowned as she saw a towel with a large amount of make up on it laying there, still a bit wet.

What was that about? Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Irina couldn’t help but sigh. It had been such a beautiful dress. One of her best. She’d used it on seduction missions before. She was still wondering why she had actually chosen to wear it that night, but that was something that Irina was going to have to worry about later.

Right now, she was trying to figure out whether they had gotten Dr. Barnard to safety or not.

Walking out of the bathroom, Irina changed her clothes, stripping off the red silken dress. Tossing it into a small bin, she took off the lacy, cobwebby underwear that she had had on underneath it, again trying to remember why she had worn them in the first place. Not as if she was going to need anything like that on the operation that she had been working. Soon, she was wearing a simple tank top and yoga pants. Now to find the priest and the doctor.

She walked into the main room of the hotel suite. A quick cursory look told her that neither Barnard nor Dustin was in the room. Her eyes widened as she felt a small wave of panic, until she saw Dustin standing on the balcony. Good. His back was to her, and he was looking out over the city. The sun was starting to rise in the distance. Stepping out on the balcony, the sound of the door opening grabbed Dustin’s attention and he turned.

She stared.

“I’ve been known to have that effect on people.” He said.

“No, it’s not that.” Irina said, recovering. His face was blue, though the rest of his body, from what she could see that wasn’t covered, was the normal flesh tone that she was used to. “I’ve just never seen you like that.” She said. “Quite an interesting picture, Father.” She said. Then she paused and a smile graced her features. “I like your eyes.” She said.

He blinked. “Well, that’s nice.” He said, turning to look back at the skyline. She came over and stood next to him. “Barnard is dead.”

She saw that he had a glass in his hand. A dark, amber colored liquid, from the smell, she could tell that it was some kind of alcohol. This was getting more and more interesting, as they went along. “It’s my mutation.” She said. “I’m a mutant, like you. My powers are fairly basic. My skin is impervious, to anything. Well, that’s not necessarily true. I just haven’t come across anything that can break my skin. Not even Adamantium. I have exceptional strength, but I’ve never lifted anything over a ton. Also, I can reach into someone’s body and pull things out. No, it wouldn’t work on Cyber, he’d just heal from it. Your turn.”

“My turn?” He asked, confused.

“We’ve never discussed your mutation. Don’t try to tell me that you don’t have one. Your skin is blue.” Irina replied, with a smirk.

“My skin is blue, my eyes are yellow.” Dustin said. “I can…teleport. I don’t know how I do it, but I disappear, and I go where I want to. My body is flexible; my bones can shift in ways that they’re not supposed to. My father used to call me his little acrobat.” He said. “I also have a tail.” He said.

“A tail?” She asked, her eyes lighting up. “This I have to see.”

“You most assuredly will not.” He said. “It’s not something to be laughed at or pointed at.” Dustin said. “I have more questions. Who is Cyber and what is the Facility that he referred to some time ago?” He asked. Then Dustin turned and looked at her. “Don’t tell me that you can’t tell me, don’t tell me that you won’t tell me. You will tell me.” He said, drinking some of his alcohol.

Now this was interesting. She had to admit that it was pretty…well…something to see him be so forceful, when normally Dustin was very docile. If Irina was being honest with herself, she was kind of turned on by this. So, despite knowing that he was a priest, she decided to test the waters. “What if I don’t?” She asked.

She had misjudged the situation, from the look in his eyes.

“I wouldn’t advise that.” Dustin said. “I just saw a man toss another man into oncoming traffic on a highway. The police are probably still scrapping Dr. Barnard off of that highway. This man, this Cyber, is dangerous, and he’s now killed at least four people that I know of. I want to know who he is and what he is, to you.” He said. “I know your computer will tell me, and do you really think it’ll be that difficult for me to take it from you?” He asked. “I just told you that I can teleport.”

She nodded. He had a point there. “Alright, I’ll tell you something, but I can’t tell you everything. I have obligations myself. I work for a group of people, an organization really. They run experiments, they do tests, mainly on mutants.” Irina said, being truthful so far.

Now it was time for some of the lies to start. If she didn’t already have a shaky belief in God and religion, this would have hurt, lying to a priest. But it was for his own good. She knew the people that she worked for, and if he knew the truth, well then she wasn’t sure what he would do. Or what they would do. “It’s for healthcare and medicines, things like that.” She said.

She didn’t burn immediately, but that was the extent to which she had to lie. “Cyber was an experiment, and it was a failure. They took someone who had been a convicted killer, a serial murderer, and they tried to do something with him. I’m not sure what. It doesn’t matter. The point is that he escaped, and he’s tracking down the people who worked on the experiment. That’s who’s on the list.” She said.

Dustin paused and considered as he finished his drink. “Charles Mountbatten was a researcher.” He said and she nodded. “He conducted experiments on people?” He asked, his eyes widening.

“World War II and the Holocaust was decades ago.” Dustin said. “To generalize a German and say that all of us are Nazis or anything like that is wrong.” He said.

“Fair point.” Irina replied. “Anyway, that’s the extent of what I can tell you.” She said.

“Where’s he going to next?” He asked.

“Best guess would be Venice.” Irina said. “He’s following the list according to who was the most important on the project. Venice should be next.” She said. “You need to calm down though. You’re still angry about all of this, and that’s going to cloud your-“

“Don’t tell me what I need to do.” Dustin said and angrily threw the empty glass down on the balcony, where it shattered into pieces. “This man is a murderer. He’s murdered four people, probably more. Who knows how many he killed before this Facility took him. I will stop him. I…I need to stop him.” Dustin said, starting to walk back into the hotel room.

“At what cost?” Irina asked, now realizing that it had been a mistake for him to come with her. The priest was obviously dealing with an intense spectrum of emotions, emotions that he had never had to deal with before. His father had been murdered, the man that had taken him in and raised him. He had seen Cybr kil two people. For a man who had been raised in a small town in Germany, for a man of God, a priest, all of this had to have been a crazy shock to him. She remembered when she had first seen a death. It had been a big blow to her psyche as well. Numb to it now, she could see it from a different perspective, and she wasn’t sure that this was the wisest place for him to be.

His faith had to be being sorely tested right now.

“I want to kill him.” Dustin said, finally, softly. “I want to make him feel the pain that he has caused so many. It’s not right of me. But I don’t know what else to do.” He said. “I know I should forgive him. But…”

“It’s different when it’s your family.” She said, finishing the thought for him.

He nodded. “We’re going to Venice.” The finality in his voice was eerie.

Venice was beautiful, and had he been here for some other reason, Dustin would have appreciated the beauty of the city. The history was deep, and the culture was rich. The Venetian sights were a thing that all should see at some point in their lives, and Dustin wished he could appreciate them. Unfortunately, the only thing that was on his mind was finding the man who had killed his father, the man called Cyber. Irina had worked out that the next place the man would go to, after Egypt, was Venice, so this is where they were. Dustin adjusted the sunglasses on his face, as he waited. Irina was finishing up the paperwork for a car rental.

“Got it.” She said, coming around the corner and holding up keys to a Fiat. “Let’s go.” She said, waving him towards her.

Dustin was quiet as he put his suitcase into the back of the black Fiat and got in next to her. They started driving, and Irina let the sunroof open, allowing the wind to come rushing into the car. She eyed him, with a smile on her face. He had been so serious ever since he had declared that they were going to Venice. His mind was so focused; he wasn’t even appreciating the view outside. She couldn’t blame him.

There was no way that she would understand the pain that he was going through. At the same time , she just wanted to make sure that he didn’t turn into something like Cyber. Cyber was a monster, devoid of feelings and emotions. If left down this path, she feared that Dustin would become that way too. So eh wanted to help him, to make sure that he was able to avoid that fate. Because it was a fate worse than death, in her mind. As she shifted lanes, Irina wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. She wasn’t sure of what to say, or to do, to convey the thoughts that were in her head.

“Did you make the hotel reservation?”

“I’m sorry, what?” She asked, stumbling out from the thoughts in her mind.

“I asked if you made the hotel reservation.” Dustin said.

“Yes.” She said, and he nodded.

He was glad that she was staying quiet. The priest could tell that she had wanted to say something, and was very grateful that she wasn’t. She had tried to argue with him, in Egypt, but he had been firm, knowing that this was the only choice for him. He had to find Cyber and he had to stop him. That didn’t include killing the man, no. Dustin would never take a life, it was not his way, not the way that he had been raised to follow. But he would incapacitate. He would ensure that Cyber was locked down, and put in a place where he could not hurt anyone ever again.

He knew what he was doing, even though a part of him felt more lost than he had ever felt in his entire life.

So Dustin did the one thing he did know how to do the best, as Irina drove throught he streets of Venice.

As soon as they got to the hotel room, Irina was already on her computer, getting to work on the task at hand. They had to find the next researcher on the list. Her name was Bernadette Hanes and she was in serious danger. A Dutch and Greek woman, she had worked on the Cyber project, as extensively as anyone else. Her specialty had been in genetics, manipulating genes to get the desired results. For someone like her, the Facility had been a downright interesting place to work, and that was putting it mildly. The woman had been given everything and anything that she had asked for, and all that she had been asked in return, was to produce results. That was what all of the cases were to her, results that needed to be obtained.

She had never been cruel to any of her experiments, as far as Irina knew. Nothing in her files had indicated that. Irina had never met Dr. Van Deesen, and as far as she knew, the researcher had nothing to help her fight a man like Cyber.

They’d created a monster and now they were paying the price for it.

During her work, pulling up the addresses, and mapping everything out, Irina watched out of the corners of her vision, as Dustin slowly, but methodically, paced around the room. It had been a bit distracting at first, but then she’d noticed the black and gold beaded rosary that was intertwined with his fingers. He was praying. Good Lord that man prayed a lot. He’d been praying almost all the time since she’d met him. If it helped him, especially right now, she wouldn’t bother him when he did it. Irina had to wonder what it was like, to have that depth of faith. Definitely it was something that escaped her. Maybe she had had it, and somewhere along the way she’d just lost it.

Leaning back, she saw from the tracking program that she had on the credit cards that Cyber had just purchased a ticket to come to Venice. Just like she had figured he would. Cyber would have tried to make sure that he wasn’t being followed. Also, he would have waited to see who the local police contacted regarding the death of Dr. Barnard. He might have wanted to kill them too, she couldn’t be sure. Cyber was crazy like that.

“He’s on his way.” She said, and Dustin stopped his movements.

“He’s not in Venice yet?” He asked and she shook her head. “So then where is he?” He asked.

“He’s…on a plane…” Irina replied, confused and unsure of why he was asking. “You’re not able to teleport to him, are you?” She asked.

“No, I can’t. I have to know where I’m going or see it.” He said. “If I can visualize it properly, I can get there.”

“I know you do.” Irina said. “But as we’ve learned, doing things without thinking them through has dire consequences.” She said, and watched as he turned and walked away.

His body was tense, and the man’s body language screamed that he was primed for a fight. She couldn’t blame him, not really. His level of control over himself was impressive, but if there was one thing that Irina had learned over her time with the Hellfire Club, was that everyone had a breaking point, no matter what it was. If there was one thing that she was sure of, it was that she didn’t think that it would be a pretty sight when Dustin Schafer finally did lose control. There was only so much that his constant prayer was going to do for him. There had to be something that she could do.

Dustin turned when he heard her next words, a look of disbelief on his voice. He wasn't sure that he'd heard her properly, but if he had, he was very surprised. “You want to what?” He asked.

“He’s not supposed to get here until tomorrow.” She said. “That means we have the entire day to do whatever we want. We should go out and do….” She said and trailed off. “…We should do something.” Irina said, repeating what she had said before, while gesturing with her hands towards one of the windows, towards the view of Venice that was before them.

“We’re not here on a vacation.” He said, angrily.

“I know that, Father. I’m only pointing out that tunnel vision can be just as bad as cutting out distractions.” She rose and walked over to him, putting her hands on his shoulders. “You’re tense, I can tell. If anything you’re tense because you’ve been thrust into a world that you know nothing about.” Irina wasn’t that used to being soothing, it wasn’t particularly in her nature, but she knew that she needed to do that now.

“I suppose.” Dustin said, blinking a few times. He considered her words, knowing that she wasn’t saying them with any ill intent. If anything, it made sense for her to want him to not lose it. After all, when they next met and clashed with this Cyber fellow, she needed him to be prepared to fight and prepared to act. A clear mind, that was what he needed, and it was what he had sought for some time now.

The prayer wasn’t helping, at least not at the moment. But Dustin knew that prayer wasn’t an immediate balm to one’s problems. That was not how it worked. Prayer was something that had to be part of one’s daily life, a constant communication with God. One couldn’t pray for something and expect it to happen immediately, in that moment. Dustin preferred his style of communication with God, and he brought his troubles to the Almighty, as well as his successes. Recently, it seemed as though all he was bringing were those troubles.

She was going to get him to enjoy himself, just once. Irina wanted to see an actual smile on his face, and she was going to make it happen. It wasn’t the first time that she had been to Venice, and she knew a few places that would be interesting to take a priest to. But she had a feeling that it wasn’t the time to do something like that. No, they’d be avoiding those places. Still though, Irina knew of a few places that they could go to, so that Dustin Schaefer could unwind. The muscles were tight in his shoulders and there was a crease in his forehead that she could've sworn was permanent these days. The stress of everything that was going on with him and his life was more than most people had to deal with ever in their lives.

Grabbing a black leather jacket, she tossed it on as she walked towards the door. She was dressed in dark blue jeans and a red top. Turning, she saw that Dustin was wearing regular clothes, not his normal priestly garb. It was a bit surprising, because she knew that she maybe seen him in regular clothes once or twice. That was already a step in the right direction as far as Irina was concerned. It would be a reminder of why he was truly here and of his deceased father. All she wanted was for him to relax, even if it was for a night.

“Ready to go?” She asked.

“I suppose, yes. I’m still not thrilled about your idea. I have my reservations, so you know.” Dustin said with a frown on his face as he walked towards her.

She rolled her eyes. “Come on, Father, what’s life without a little bit of fun. If anything serious happens, you can go to confession, and everything will be wiped away with a few Hail Mary’s and Our Father’s.”

“That’s…that’s not how that works.” Dustin said, shaking his head as they walked to the elevator. “Yes, I know it’s sarcasm.” He added, before she could speak. As the doors closed, he continued to speak. “That doesn’t mean that I appreciate it any more.” He said, looking towards her.

“You’re not starting this evening off very well, are you?”

The elevator doors opened and they walked out. Walking out into the lobby, Irina spoke with the concierge about obtaining a taxi for the evening. It would be easier than using the rental car, since Irina had never fully driven on the streets of Venice in the past. “We’re headed to a restaurant that I know of.” She said. “I’ve been there before, and it’s good, you’ll like it. Nothing too crazy. Nothing that should upset your more tender Catholic sensibilities.” Irina said, knowing that she couldn’t resist the chance at taking the potshot.

“Sometimes, I feel that you enjoy making jokes at my religion’s expense.” Dustin said.

“What would ever give you that idea?” She asked, as they got into the taxi outside. “We’re headed to the Osteria Boccadoro.” Irina said to the driver of the taxi, who nodded and started driving. “It’s a great place, and I’m sure that you’ll like it.

It was a great place, he had to give her that. The restaurant looked and felt like an Italian restaurant in Venice should. Not too touristy, but still enough of the feel that the restaurant’s management team had definitely wanted it to be a little touristy. Dustin looked around from the table that they sat at. Irina had ordered them wine and antipasto and the wine came, it’s color matching her top. Their server poured and then left the bottle on the table, as another came with the starters to their meal. Dustin’s eyes rested solidly on his dining companion as they started eating.

“What.” She said, looking at him.

“You’re enjoying this.” He said. “Why?”

“Because since we’ve met, you’ve been preoccupied with Cyber that you’ve changed.” Irina said. When he gave her a pointed look, she nodded along, looking down at one of the plates as she served herself. “Yes, I know I didn’t know what you were like before this, but I can’t think that you were this sober and morose all the time. Your father seemed like a good and happy man, I'd like to think that some of it had to have rubbed off on you.” She said, giving him a light smirk.

“Yes, this…business with Cyber has been troubling.” Dustin said. “I often think of how my church is doing in my absence, how many parishioners are dealing with their everyday lives and stress. It’s a cross, knowing that I am here, when I am needed there.” He added.

“You have too many thoughts in your head, Dustin. I want to get some of those thoughts out of there. Too crowded. You can teleport out of a situation you don’t like, that’s great. But you can’t teleport out of your own head, can you?” She asked, reaching and taking her glass of wine for a sip.

She had a point there, one that he had thought of and realized in the past, though he had never framed it in quite that language. All it was, was yet another element to the mystery that was the woman in front of him, and it would be a lie to say that he didn’t want to learn more about her. What had made her this way? Maybe it was the fact that he was a priest, but there was a desire to learn more about the current flock that he had, even though it was only a population of one.

“Let’s play things your way then. Tell me about yourself.” Dustin said, and then raised a hand. “Not like you’re about to confess your sins to me. I know where you were going to go with that.”

“He’s learning.” Irina said, with a smile on her face that seemed rather strange to Dustin. “I know what you meant, Father, relax. My life story, that’s what you want to know?” She asked.

He nodded, as he chewed and swallowed. “The same way that I was not like this before my father was brutally murdered by a product of this Facility, there is undoubtedly an event that changed you. Since you wish for me to make conversation and appear normal, despite the fact that I’m covered in some form of makeup and wearing contacts, I see no qualms in subjecting you to the same treatment.”

“You want to strip me of my makeup?” She asked, with a slow smile.

“No, but I do want to know what made you like this. You were not always like this, I’m sure of it.”

“Tell you about myself?” Irina asked and he nodded. She made a contemplative face as she reached for her glass of wine and took a sip. “It’s not much of a story, I think.” She said, and he shook his head. “What?” She asked, her eyes widening a little. “I’m not trying to hide anything.”

“Everyone’s life has meaning and everyone’s story is important, even if they do not feel the same way.”

Now it was her turn to shake her head. “True words from a priest.” Irina replied and then sighed. She leaned back when the server came by to take their plates of antipasto and replace them with their meals. Irina leveled a fork at him. “I’ll tell you, but at least pretend as if you aren’t bored.” She said and he laughed lightly. “I was born in Kiev, in Ukraine. My parents worked for the government. Not too high up on the ladder, but enough that we weren’t completely destitute. Government jobs don’t pay too well, regardless of what country you live in, or what ideology they follow when it comes to economics.”

“Very true.”

“My older sister passed away when I was seven. Sickness, and we didn’t have the money to cover the hospital bills. I saw what my parents were going through and I decided that I wanted something different. I didn’t want to be stuck in Kiev, I didn’t want to be nothing more than the daughter of two low level government employees.” She said.

“Ambition can be a powerful thing.” Dustin replied and she smiled as she reminisced, a wistful look on her face.

With a carefree movement of her eyebrows, she took her wine glass back into her hand. “I went to school for economics and-“

“You’re leaving something out.” Dustin said with a small smile. “You have a mutation. We both know you do, in the same way that we both know I have a tail. Feel free to tell me about it, since it would have happened before you started college.” He said.

She smiled. “Maybe you missed your mark. Should have been an interrogator, or an investigator. Yes, my mutation developed when I was thirteen. I was in the kitchen, cutting vegetables, and I accidentally sliced my hand. Except that it was the knife that bent and broke and my fingers were fine.”

“So nothing hurts you?” He asked.

“Nothing that I’ve found on this planet can hurt me.” Irina said. “I’ve looked.”

“From that tone of voice, I feel as if this could be a subject that should be tread on lightly, what can hurt you.” He said.

“Oh please, Father Schaefer, feel free to tread lightly.” She said with an amused smile and a slight shake of her hair. “Nothing you can say can hurt me, I promise.”

“Emotions can be dangerous, Irina. You would do best not to play with them.”

The amused smile turned slightly mischievous, slightly daring. As if she was begging him to continue down this path. “Or what, Father?” She asked, sliding her finger around the rim of her wine glass.

“Or what?” He asked, and gave her a small smirk. “What do you think is going to happen?” He asked and she gave him a shrug, coupled with a suggestive look. Dustin shook his head. “Irina, you may try, but you will not seduce me, if that is what you’re thinking of doing. I’m afraid it won’t work.” He said.

“Father Schaefer, underneath that Roman collar are veins and in those veins pumps blood. If I wanted to seduce you, I think we both know that I could.” Irina replied with a smile. “Vows are a sacred thing though, so I don’t know if I should.” She said. “But the fact is, I know that deep down, you want me.”

Dustin chuckled. “That’s amusing.” He said, continuing to eat his meal. “While we are talking about you though, I would like to ask how you came to be involved with a group such as the one that experimented on Cyber and sent us both down this path.” He said. “That’s not something that randomly occurs one day.”

“You’re right.” She said, nodding as she noted his deflection of her dig about his interest in her.

She could see it, even if he refused to acknowledge it. It was something admirable in a way that he was trying hard to fight against his baser instincts. Then again, that was what made men of the cloth so admirable in the first place. They acknowledged their weaknesses and attempted to turn those weaknesses into strengths to serve the rest of the world, to do what they could with the talents that their Creator had bestowed upon them, to ease the suffering of those around them.

“Tell me about it.”

“A lot of it are things I can’t tell you.” Irina said. “What I can tell you though, is that I was recruited. By a man and woman, to work for them. I was working at Shaw Industries, as an intern, while I got my degree in business. This man and woman controlled a powerful organization, one that works with people who have mutations. They study them, and attempt to garner knowledge from those studies.” She said.

“They experiment on them.” Dustin said. “You’re sugar coating things because you know I disapprove and you dislike knowing that I disapprove of the people you work for.” He said. “I’ve expressed that in the past.” He added.

“Fine. Yes. I’m sugarcoating it. But Dustin, you need to understand the bigger picture. There are people out there who are very dangerous and understanding what mutants can do, it arms us to protect the rest of the people against them.”

He shook his head, his face one of disbelief. “On that point, we must disagree. Mutants may pose a threat, but that does not mean that they should be turned into creatures like the one that killed my father and Mr. Mountbatten.” He said. “Tolerance, acceptance, these are the things that win you peace.”

“Don’t preach to me from your ivory pulpit. I’ve seen the way that mutations can play out, in the wrong hands.” She said. “Cyber was a murderer before he came to the Facility. We didn’t put that in him. We didn’t make him into a monster.”

“No, you merely gave him the tools that he needed to become a better murderer. A better monster. From the sounds of things, your organization would have sought to control him, to use him, if he had not escaped.” He said.

“So what, you think that there isn’t a problem with mutation?” She asked.

“No. Why would I think that there’s a problem with you?” He asked and she shook her head, knowing what he was trying to get at. “Irina, you’re mistaking quite a few things that I’m saying. I’m not against mutation. Mutation is a naturally occurring thing. For what reason, for what purpose? That’s not something I can answer. I only have my faith to guide me on that account.”

“What are you against, then?” Irina asked, leaning back in her chair and taking her glass of wine with her. She used her free hand to tuck loose strands of hair behind her ears as she prepared herself for what she knew was going to be conversation deeper than that which usually graced her dinner table.

“The organization that you work for, the one that Shaw Industries seems to be a part of, it has a few flaws with its logic. You said that there are people out there who are very dangerous and understanding what mutants can do helps us to be armed against them.” Dustin said and she nodded. “But what exactly is the difference in danger between a man such as Cyber and a man who has a bulletproof vest, an assault rifle, and a grudge against any one of the patrons of this establishment?” He asked, gesturing towards the other people in the restaurant.

“That man can actually be stopped. Besides Cyber can cause more damage.” Irina replied, flicking her wrist as if to dismiss his point.

With a wistful smile, Dustin shook his head slowly, knowing that he had gotten to the heart of the matter, at least to him. “You’re arguing the scale of the tragedy, I’m pointing out that a tragedy exists regardless. A tragedy that should have been avoided in the first place. I fail to see how finding fault with a man or a woman simply because they’re different…It could very have been you in Cyber’s position.” He said. “After all, that man can heal from any damage, but you…nothing can penetrate your skin to begin with.”

It was then that he saw the remorseful look on her face and he trailed off.

“I’ve already given them samples of my genetic material to study, Father.” She said. There was a confusing look on Dustin’s face, one that she recognized. “You’re wondering how they took enough DNA and genetic material if it’s not possible to break my skin?” She asked and he nodded. “There are…ovarian surgeries available.” Irina said, closing her eyes for a moment.

Briefly. A flash in time.

Irina Zakharov had always been sure of herself. She had always known who she was and what she wanted in life, even if the end result hadn’t always been apparent. In that quest, she had never wavered and she had never allowed anyone else’s opinion to tamper with that.

So why did the look on the priest’s face cut her to the core? Why did she care about Dustin Schaefer’s opinion of her, what he thought of her? Why did it matter so God damned much? The grip on her wine glass wobbled and she placed the glass on the table.

It wasn’t that he made her feel small and worthless or a something that someone would scrape off the bottom of their shoe. No, the look on his face was one of sadness that she had made the decision. It was comforting, consoling, one of understanding and acceptance.

“Mein Gott. Have these fools no respect for the sacred?” He asked, leaning forward and placing his hand on top of the one that held the stem of the wine glass between her fingers. “My heart weeps that you were in a position where you felt you needed to make that decision. I can see that you don’t agree with what they’re doing, but why would you join an organization such as this in the first place? Irina, how could you?” Dustin asked, gently.

“I believe that there are people out there who need to have control put in place for them.” Irina said. “I believe that the world isn’t black and white or cut and dry. We need like people like Cyber to stop people worse than Cyber.” She said.

“But to let them violate one of the most powerful things that God gave to woman?” Dustin asked, pain in his eyes.

“I don’t expect you to understand, Father, and I expect you to approve even less. The decision was made…years ago. It’s not something I try to think about.” She said.

Unfortunately for Irina, there was nothing else that Dustin could think of, and the thought dominated his mind. It would do so for some time, and he knew it. There was no way for him to not feel anguish for her and for the decision that he had made. There was a sense of anger that coursed through him, anger that she had been placed in a position where that choice had seemed suitable, and even more than that, anger that there had been people who would have considered such an option something suitable to place in front of her. Whoever this organization was that she worked for, Shaw Industries or whoever, Dustin disliked them intensely, which was a mild way of putting his sense of disgust for them.

Of course, any feelings he had on the subject would, undoubtedly, be immaterial and inconsequential to the people who ran the organization. His disgust for them would be nothing but a speck of dust flying in the wind to these people. But that did nothing to stop him from having that disgust in the first place.

“I understand it, but yes, I do not approve of the decision.” He said, shaking his head. “I don’t fault you for making the choice, I fault the people who put the choice in front of you and made you believe that it was a good choice.” He said.

“I appreciate that.” Irina said, a look of true appreciation on her face. “I don’t know what has been done with the…samples…that were taken. I suppose I could try to find out, but like I said, it wasn’t a proud moment for me, so I’ve tried to put it in the past.”

Dustin nodded. “Irina, I know that I’ve not been very…accepting of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. But I would like to take this moment to say that I thank you for placing trust in me and telling me these things.” He said and looked away for a moment, marshaling his thoughts as he chose his words carefully.

“You’re making me blush, Dustin.” Irina said, interrupting, before she took a sip of her wine. She glanced down at the table, before lifting her eyes up at him, and giving him a sly look.

“This is what I love about my vocation as a priest.” Dustin said. “It’s the ability to create a safe place for people to feel comfortable with sharing the things that have happened in their lives, the things that they have a need to talk about, the things that bother them.”

“I’m bothered by the fact that you’re far too ridiculously unflappable. You have way too good of a control of your anger.” She said, laughing lightly, and leaning back in her chair. “How do you do it?” She asked.

“Prayer.” Dustin said, with a slightly sheepish grin. “A lot of prayer. I have to be the rock for my community and I have to be strong for those people who need me to be in the moments of their weaknesses. It’s a struggle, something that I deal with on a daily basis.” He said.

“I have to admit, I don’t think I’ve ever met someone like you.” She said.

“Priests, yes.” Irina replied, lifting a hand and lazily letting it fall to one side. “Priests like you, no.” Irina added, her hand moving to the other side. “They’re all very concerned about God and the Bible, but they don’t always make that connection with their congregation. At least, I’ve never had that connection.” She said, shrugging her shoulders.

“You’ve never seen me with my congregation, so I can only assume you’re insinuating that we’ve made a connection.” He said, with a small smile. “I assure you, Irina, that there are a great number of good men serving as priests. The Catholic Church is full of them.”

“It’s also full of lazy bastards too.” She said. When she saw the look on his face change, she held her hands up. “Easy there, pastor man, I’m not going to ask you about the abuse scandals. I’ve got plenty of other problems with the Church on earth. Speaking of the Church itself, why do you all have gold chalices and expensive paintings and all that stuff? Didn’t Jesus live rather humbly? Isn’t that what he charged his disciples to do?” She asked.

Dustin nodded, smiling. He had heard this question asked before, and he himself had been asked it a number of times in the past. It was one of the quandaries that many Catholics had with their faith. A surface question of the rest of their faith, it was usually a stepping stone that allowed someone to dive deeper into why another person questioned their religion. “In the Old Testament, God charged Solomon with building a temple. You’ll remember though, that it was Solomon’s father, David, who originally wished to build the temple.”

“Something about a tent.”

“Right.” Dustin replied. “David questioned Samuel why he lived in a house of cedar wood, but the Lord God lived in a tent. It was not David’s responsibility to build the temple, he was a man of bloodshed, of war. Solomon had peace, peace ensured by David, and thus he could be the man to build the temple. But you will notice that the temple was built. A hundred thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver. More bronze and iron than could be weighed. This is what went into the construction of that temple.”

“Jesus came to fulfill the prophecies. He’s God’s son. If he lived humbly, that’s a stronger mission to follow than Solomon’s temple.” Irina replied.

“True.” Dustin said, raising a finger and moving it back and forth. “Very true. But Jesus understood the need to worship in a place such as the temple. He drove the merchants and vendors out of Solomon’s temple.” He said. “He wanted it to be clean and pure for the faithful who would pray to God.” Dustin said. “In that story, the interpretation is more to keep your soul clean of temptation and sin, as best you can, to let God in. That being said, there is still a physical presence to the story, of how we worship.”

“What does that have to do with the Vatican’s vault of paintings and books?” Irina asked. “It’s not like they’re putting up some old painting in a church in Minnesota or Nigeria.” She said. “That painting is worth money, money they could use, should they sell the painting to some museum, to take care of the sick and dying, part of their actual mission on earth.”

“It’s a difficult thing to reconcile, I will concede that.” Dustin replied. “There are many nights when I have been trying to balance my parish’s ledger when I wished I had access to more funds to better provide for my parishioners.” He said and Irina raised an eyebrow, indicating she thought she had a victory here. “But at the same time, I know that God will not send me any trial or tribulation that I cannot handle.” He added. “We, the Church, hold onto these pieces of world treasure in order to protect them. The world is often in conflict, often in the throes of nationalism or war.”

“Yes, the Swiss guards do seem to be quite capable. You’re not part of a Papal State like you were back in the day, Father.” Irina replied, smirking at her joke.

“No, but look at what the Chinese have done in Tibet, and the way they have destroyed Buddhist works of art.” He said and sighed. “Look at what happens in the Middle East, when radical Islamists come across a church or any place of worship that runs counter to their beliefs. The Church stands vigilant against those who would threaten to do that to our relics and our treasures. It is a travesty what happens around the world.” Dustin said.

She rolled her eyes. He was going macro when she was trying to force him to focus on the micro situations around the world. “You’re talking about machine guns and suicide bombers. I’m talking about the poor in Detroit or Flint, Michigan who would benefit from the Church selling even one of those marble statues to the Met in New York for example and using that money to help those people.” Irina said, holding up one finger. “I don’t think it would make a dent in what it’s going to cost to rebuild those water pipes, if I had to guess, but I’m sure it’s going to help somewhat.” Irina said.

“You’re trying to use the two pennies of the widow and apply it everywhere.” Dustin said and she shrugged. “In a sense you are. You’re saying why doesn’t the Church act with those two pennies and do what good it can. But you’re missing the bigger picture. There’s more than can be done by holding onto the artwork. For example, they could be used as collateral to secure loans. The focus of the Church is beyond what we can think of. We look to the future.”

She grinned, knowing she could get a jab in. “So you acknowledge that Jesus isn’t coming back anytime soon.”

He sighed. “He ascended into heaven many centuries ago. Suffice to say, he will probably not be returning in our lifetime, Irina.” Dustin reached out, using his fingers to smooth out a wrinkle in the tablecloth. “But we, the Church, have been charged with defending the faith and defending those who are believers. We have that obligation. But we have that obligation to the future believers as well.”

“There’s a Justin Bieber joke in there somewhere.” Irina said, unable to help herself.

His brow furrowed. “I don’t know who that is. What is the joke?” He asked.

She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it.” Irina looked around the restaurant for a moment. “Are you ready to get out of here?” She asked. “We should probably get a move on.”

Irina stood on her balcony, still wearing her jacket, to ward against the chill. She had a glass of whiskey in her hands and she was sipping at it slowly. Dustin was in his section of the hotel room, on the pull out couch. He had graciously conceded to her the actual bed room of their hotel suite. The bedroom came with a balcony and she found herself look out over the city of Venice. The city was sleeping, with no idea that Cyber would soon be arriving. The monster would descend upon the city, and the city would not be ready. They would be ready though, the two of them to try to stop him. She knew his target. One of the researchers who had been on the team that had made Cyber. A woman, she had been in charge of the smelting of the Adamantium and creating the strips that had been attached to Cyber’s skin.

She had been the one to create the most painful part of the entire process. Suffice to say she was someone Cyber wanted to exact revenge upon. Irina took another sip of her whiskey. She was sure that the priest in the other room was asleep, which meant that it was a good time to make the phone call. Reaching into her pocket, Irina took out her cell phone and made her phone call.

“Irina, I’ve been waiting for this, for some time. You should have gotten in touch with me sooner, you know that.” The man on the other end said.

“I know, but things have been hectic.” She replied. “Paul, I need to know what the Inner Circle wants me to do here. I can track Cyber, but am I going to put him down?” She asked.

“Of course.” Paul Heyman replied. “Irina, he needs to be taken care of, it has to happen. He was a beautiful dream that turned into a nightmare we’re all trying to wake up from. You weren’t sent after him to bring him in, you were sent after him to eliminate him, to take care of the problem.” He said and her silence was telling. “Is there some kind of problem?” He asked.

“No, there’s just been…a complication.” She said, looking over her shoulder and through the glass of the sliding door to the hotel room.

“Complication?” Heyman asked. “What are you talking about?”

“I found another mutant. He has powers analog to Nightcrawler, Kurt Wagner.” She said, closing her eyes. She knew what Heyman was going to ask her, she knew where his mind was going to go.

“Can he be brought in? We’ve never had a teleporter on the roster of people we can use.” Heyman said, his interest piquing. “That would be quite a coup, Irina, to eliminate Cyber and bring in a mutant.” He said.

It was exactly what she had feared. Heyman was a manipulator and one of the best she had ever met. Even knowing who he was, she often found herself being used in his ploys throughout the Hellfire Club. He had finagled himself a position in charge of the Facility and he had been brought in specifically because of the Cyber problem. So it was something he wanted to be able to put in the past of the Facility’s history. She couldn’t blame him there. Solving this issue was the specific reason why Barrington St. Germaine had put him in charge. But she didn’t want to introduce Dustin to the people that she worked for. Clearly, he was not in agreement with a lot of the ideology of the Hellfire Club.

“I don’t think he can be. He’s after Cyber as well but for a very specific reason. Cyber was going after Charles Mountbatten and in the process killed this man’s father.”

Irina sighed. She knew what had happened to Liam. He hadn’t wanted to play ball with the Club and they had dealt with him in the best way they knew how to. That was not something she wanted to have happen to her. The thought of someone being in her position, hunting after her, it could be scary. She and Cyber had similar durability for a reason, it meant that she could go after him better than the average person. The Inner Circle would find someone who was able to neutralize her strengths.

“I’ll try, but I can’t make any promises.” She said, hanging up before Heyman was able to respond. She didn’t want to keep the conversation going, not anymore.

She looked down at the phone for a moment, thinking through the conversation. Irina had no idea how to recruit Dustin. That was not something she could devote any time to really. All her thoughts, all of her focus had to be on catching Cyber. She had to figure out how to kill Cyber.

A man with adamantium in his skin.

She walked back into the hotel, completely oblivious in the darkness, to the man with the tail who was clinging to the side of the hotel and who had been listening to every word of the conversation.

“You’re being uncharacteristically quiet.” She said and smiled, nudging him lightly. “Even for you.”

They were in line for the continental breakfast offered by their hotel. Cyber’s plane was going to be landing soon and Dustin had woken fully focused on the task. Irina had been the one to push him towards eating, saying that they would need their energy. He continued to be silent, as he selected food from the buffet.

He wasn’t sure how to broach the topic with her that he had heard her phone call. How did one begin that kind of conversation? It was more complicated than a simple “hello”. While he had only been privy to her side of the conversation, it had been enough to give him cause for concern. Things were not as they seemed with Irina and that was something he was still getting used to. Unfortunately, the more time he spent around her and particularly after the phone call, Dustin was now becoming convinced that this nebulous milieu of secrecy was something that would never change. She was who she was and despite the fact he wanted her to change for the better and prayed for her, it did not seem she wanted to change herself.

Praying for someone was powerful, he knew firsthand its power. He had seen it work miracles in the lives of his parishioners over the years. But Dustin also knew very well, that unless the person wanted to change, the prayer would not be enough. God helped people, of course, but how they came to the realization they needed change was not a magical process. God put them into situations where it could happen. However, the person needed to be receptive, otherwise despite being in this nutritious soil, no fruit would grow. Irina was anything but receptive.

Just when he thought she was making a change, or in the very least open to making a change, something he had thought was happening last night during their conversation over dinner, Irina flipped the script on him. He was getting rather tired of it.

“I’m thinking, that’s all.” He said.

“You know, just because you tell me what’s happening doesn’t mean that you’re not actually still lying.” She said with a smile.

“Funny how that works.” Dustin replied, with a pregnant smile of his own. “I’m thinking about what we need to do to stop Cyber.” He said. “Do we go straight to the airport?” He asked. “We arrived here first because we knew where he was going. So that means you know his target, yes?” Dustin asked and Irina nodded. “This raises the question of whether it’s smarter to meet him head on, at the airport, or whether it makes more sense to locate first his target.”

Irina waited until they were seated until she replied. “I guess that ultimately depends on how comfortable you are with using his target, inadvertently though it may be, as bait.”

Again, the smile was present on the priest’s face. “It is not a stretch of the imagination to think this is something you would find little qualm with.”

“What’s your problem?” She asked. “You’ve been quiet all morning and when you do speak, it’s to be sarcastic towards me. We’re on the same side here, or did you forget that?” Irina asked, staring at him.

He chuckled. “I have not forgotten that fact.”

“Sarcasm isn’t working for you, Father Schaefer.” She said, looking away. “I know you’re not a fan of me or how I do things or who I work for, but I get results.”

“Bodies of the deceased strewn across parts of Europe and Northern Africa, results anyone could be proud of.” He retorted.

Irina looked at the center of the table, trying to keep her anger under control. Her grip on her fork tightened. What the hell had gotten into him?

Irina rose from the table, her meal finished. Dustin had not improved during the remainder of breakfast. She was barely able to control herself at this point. She didn’t know why he was acting in this manner and a part of her didn’t care. She just wanted to get this over with. That meant finding Cyber and stopping him. He was coming in and she had to be ready for him. He was the one who had been able to escape the Facility and that made him dangerous. The simple fact he’d been in the Facility at the tender mercies of a man like Paul Heyman made him dangerous.

“Are you ready to go?” She asked, looking over at Dustin who was still seated.

“Yes.” He replied. “We going to meet with the target?” He asked.

Irina nodded. “You were right.” She said. “We can use Cyber’s bait as some kind of target. But we have to be on the safe side. I don’t want this person hurt. They don’t deserve death, even if they do deserve justice brought to them.” Irina said.

“That’s honorable of you.” He said. “What’s the name of the person from your organization who is now living here?” Dustin asked.

“Bernadette Hanes.” Irina said. “She worked on molecular physiology and biophysics. She’s quite good at her job, at least, she was. She took her exit from us a while ago and we’ve kept tabs on her, so I know where she lives.”

Dustin paused. “What does she do now?” He asked.

“She works for a non-profit provided access to medical care for people in Africa.” She said.

He smiled. “Now that is an honorable thing.” He said. “I can appreciate that.”

Irina scoffed, finally thinking it time Dustin got a taste of his own medicine. “What Father, you don’t recognize penance when you see it? She’s doing all of it to erase her sins of the past.” She said. “The world isn’t as beautiful as your psalms would have us believe.”

“Lecturing doesn’t suit you.”

“Virtue signaling doesn’t suit you either.” She replied. “I get it, you’re angry about the company you have to keep to get the justice you want, but you’re going to have to stomach that.” Irina said. She started to walk away but turned back, speaking over her shoulder. “I don’t rightly care what you think of me and what you think of my organization, Dustin. The Church has had its own fair shares of despicable deeds. You want your justice, you do as I say from now on.”

Irina parked the car in front of Bernadette Hanes’ clinic and office building. It wasn’t a large building, but it was multiple stories. She had some research on what it was that Bernadette was doing. Despite what she had said to Dustin, Irina knew that Bernadette was doing good work. Good work for the right reasons, even if some of those reasons were selfish. Could people ever be forgiven for the things they’d done? That was an interesting question, one that Irina had to think about. The way she’d heard Dustin speak of forgiveness, it was this all powerful, magical thing. But she had a hard time thinking that it could apply to her.

Like Bernadette Hanes, Irina had done some horrible things in her life. Worse than that, she had allowed horrible things to happen, standing by and watching when she could have done something, she could have stopped them. Her rationale at the time had been that she was only one person, what could she had possibly done to stop the torment taking place in the Facility? Dustin, however, seemed convinced that one person in the right place at the right time making the right decision could make all the difference.

She didn’t have that faith. She wished she did. Shutting the car door, Irina adjusted her sunglasses and looked around.

“Do we go in?” Dustin asked, as he stepped out of his side of the car. “I don’t know how these stake out things work. Only what I know from bad television.” He said with wistful smile as he came around the side of the car to where she was.

“Normally, I wouldn’t think we need to.” Irina said. She reached into her leather jacket pocket and handed him a photograph. “This is what Dr. Hanes looks like.” She continued to look around as he looked at the photograph.

There were people in the area, going about their daily lives. This wasn’t going to concern Cyber, but it did concern her. They were close to one of the many canals that dotted the Venice landscape. Water was everywhere in Venice, that was one of the things you could count on. She turned back and around and took the photograph from Dustin.

“But we did decide we were going to use her as bait.” Dustin said. “How do we go about doing that?” He asked, and then held a hand up. “Using the least amount of violence as possible.” He added. “I don’t want to hurt people.”

“Where’s the fun in that, Father?” Irina asked. “After all, having fun on this mortal plane isn’t a sin.”

“It is when it causes tangible harm to innocent people.” He retorted and she pouted.

Irina reached into her two shoulder holsters, producing her two Beretta M9s.

Bernadette Hanes’s eyes were wide with fear as she felt the cold press of the pistol against the side of her head. She had no idea who these people were and what they wanted with her. But she was being dragged from her office and into the hallway by a man and a woman. There was a forearm over her mouth that was hindering her breathing. She could still breathe through her nose. Unfortunately, it was also hindering her ability to speak, which was much more disheartening. The door to a closet was opened and she was roughly shoved inside. The man flipped the switch, turning the lights on in the closet. It was a decent sized closet, filled with different custodial equipment.

Looking up from the ground, she stared at the man and the woman, fear in her eyes. The man was unarmed, it was the woman who was holding the pistols.

“Who are you?” She asked. “What do you want?”

“There’s a guy coming here to kill you.” Irina said, putting one of her two pistols away.

“To kill me? What are you talking about?” Bernadette asked, her eyes widening once more.

“Dr. Hanes,” Dustin said, “some years ago you worked at a place where there were experiments done on mutants. One of those mutants has obtained a list of people who experimented on him, and he has been systematically attacking and killing anyone and everyone who is on that list.” Dustin said and then sighed. “We have reason to believe that you are next.” He added.

“Which one?” Bernadette asked.

“Beg your pardon?”

She slowly got to her feet. “Which one that I experimented on? There were many.”

“Cyber.” Irina said.

Bernadette’s face paled. She stumbled backwards, propping herself up against metal shelving. “He’s a mass murderer. I’m not going to survive this.” She said, starting to take deep breaths but with increasing speed. Her pupils were starting to dilate, and her eyes were darting all around the enclosed room, as if she expected the man to seemingly come out of the walls. “You can’t stop this.”

Dustin gestured to Irina. “She’s from the Facility. We can help you.” Dustin said. “We’re here to help you.”

He moved through the facility quickly and efficiently. That was his nature and his training. He had only one goal in mind, and that was to get to Dr. Bernadette Hanes as quickly as possible. The rest of it meant nothing to him. These people meant nothing to him, and he would kill however many it took to get to them. Thanks to the abilities he had been given during his time at the Facility, it was not something that gave him great difficulty. He walked through the hallways, ignoring the screams, killing the security guards that tried to come after him.

A door at the end of the hallway opened and he watched as the priest stepped out.

He sighed.

“You again?” He asked. “You don’t know how annoying you are, do you?” He asked.

“I hadn’t given it much thought, I’ll be honest.” Dustin replied.

Cyber started running, picking up speed as he charged towards Dustin who did the same. At the last second, before they were going to clash, Dustin disappeared into a cloud of bluish and purplish smoke. This had happened before, but still it caught him unaware. He turned, looking around, but saw nothing. When he turned back around, Dustin reappeared in the middle of the air, his body contorted in a weird twist.

Dustin’s body unfurled, his foot lashing out and kicking him in the side of the head. Suddenly he disappeared again, reappearing behind him and kicking him in the back. The interloper staggered forward and fell to his knees. He turned and stared at Dustin, who was crouched on the ground. The hulking man glared at the man. “Seriously, very annoying.” He said.

“I’ll keep it in mind.” Dustin replied.

There was a noise behind Cyber, and he turned, spying Irina and Dr. Hanes. He bared his teeth.

“Cyber.” Hanes said.

“That’s not my name.” He said.

He was about to move towards the two of them, when Dustin spoke.

“What is your name then?”

“Why do you care?” Cyber asked.

“I know they did horrible things to you at the Facility.” Dustin said, raising a hand up towards Cyber. “Irina and the rest of them, they did horrible things. But is killing them going to reverse what happened?” He asked. “No, it won’t and I think you know that.”

Cyber smiled. “Save your breath, Father.” He said. “I should have picked up on your scent after the last few times we met, but that’s my fault. Singular mind, singular purpose.” He said, tapping the side of his head. “Your outreaches of mercy are going to be like the seed sower throwing the seed on the rocky path.”

Dustin cocked his head to the side. “Not exactly the parable, but I think I see your point.”

“Sunday School at the Facility wasn’t…the most comprehensive of educations.” He said and turned back to Irina and Dr. Hanes. “Bernadette, let’s see if you’re ready to confess.” He said and took off down the hall, scrambling on all fours and moving at what seemed like a superhuman speed.